Defense outlines strategy in murder case

Published: Monday, January 27, 2014 at 07:10 PM.

RALEIGH — Defense counsel for Amanda Perry Hayes said Monday she was unaware of Laura Jean Ackerson’s dismembered remains being in a bathroom in her apartment for days after Ackerson’s death.

In his opening argument, attorney Johnny Gaskins said Hayes was involved in neither the murder nor responsible for the disposal of Ackerson’s remains in a Texas creek in 2011.

Gaskins said when Ackerson — a former Kinston resident and former girlfriend of Hayes’ husband, Grant — arrived at the Hayes’ apartment in Raleigh, Amanda Hayes eventually went into another room with her 1-month-old daughter and Grant Hayes’ and Ackerson’s two children while the pair discussed a new child custody agreement.

Not long after, Gaskins said Grant Hayes came in the room and told her something happened to Ackerson and that he was taking her to one of their two bathrooms until EMS could get there, and to take the children to Chick-fil-A.

Grant Hayes was convicted of the first-degree murder of Ackerson in September.

Gaskins then said for the next three days, Amanda Hayes had no idea what happened to Ackerson or that her body, sawed into seven pieces, remained in the bathroom.

Gaskins also said Grant Hayes arranged the trip to Amanda Hayes’ sister’s residence outside Richmond, Texas and hid coolers containing Ackerson’s remains in a U-Haul trailer obscured by a large piece of furniture meant for the sister.

RALEIGH — Defense counsel for Amanda Perry Hayes said Monday she was unaware of Laura Jean Ackerson’s dismembered remains being in a bathroom in her apartment for days after Ackerson’s death.

In his opening argument, attorney Johnny Gaskins said Hayes was involved in neither the murder nor responsible for the disposal of Ackerson’s remains in a Texas creek in 2011.

Gaskins said when Ackerson — a former Kinston resident and former girlfriend of Hayes’ husband, Grant — arrived at the Hayes’ apartment in Raleigh, Amanda Hayes eventually went into another room with her 1-month-old daughter and Grant Hayes’ and Ackerson’s two children while the pair discussed a new child custody agreement.

Not long after, Gaskins said Grant Hayes came in the room and told her something happened to Ackerson and that he was taking her to one of their two bathrooms until EMS could get there, and to take the children to Chick-fil-A.

Grant Hayes was convicted of the first-degree murder of Ackerson in September.

Gaskins then said for the next three days, Amanda Hayes had no idea what happened to Ackerson or that her body, sawed into seven pieces, remained in the bathroom.

Gaskins also said Grant Hayes arranged the trip to Amanda Hayes’ sister’s residence outside Richmond, Texas and hid coolers containing Ackerson’s remains in a U-Haul trailer obscured by a large piece of furniture meant for the sister.

The revelation of what happened to Ackerson didn’t happen until Grant Hayes threatened his wife with a machete and “whacked her in the leg” with it, telling her to tell her sister she was responsible for the crime.

That moment, actually, was where the prosecution led off.

Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger began his oral argument with what Amanda Hayes said to her sister.

Zellinger then went through the point-for-point timeline of events the state believes happened — a virtually identical method to the path taken during the trial and conviction of Grant Hayes.

Zellinger said the couple worked to eradicate Ackerson from the face of the earth, taking time to describe the alleged callousness and brutality undertaken in the crime.

Gaskins attempted to portray Amanda Hayes as a sympathetic figure — that Grant Hayes drained her bank account, sold off thousands of dollars of jewelry, and put them to the point of eviction from their apartment at the time of the killing, isolating and dominating her.

Gaskins noted that Grant Hayes told a friend he wanted a Stepford wife. Amanda Hayes, in a seeming coincidence, was an extra in the movie “The Stepford Wives.” Gaskins characterized Grant Hayes as a sociopath who saw himself as Will Smith in “Six Degrees of Separation” and Matt Damon in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

Prosecutors called their first witnesses of the trial after opening arguments, bringing to the stand former Ackerson business partner Chevone Mathes and former Kinston Department of Public Safety Detective James Gwaltney.

Both testified to facts stated in the Grant Hayes trial and did not touch on Amanda Hayes’ alleged involvement in the crime.

The trial continues today at 9:30 a.m. at the Wake County Justice Center.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @WolfeReports.